As a result of lower hold percentages in April despite higher handle, the Strip posted a year-over-year decline in gaming revenue for the third month in a row. By contrast, Las Vegas neighborhood and downtown casinos showed their strength.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board Wednesday reported the state recorded a slight dip of .5% in gaming revenue in April, dropping from $1.24 billion a year ago to $1.23 billion this year. The Strip declined 2.8% from $666 million to $646.8 million after a 4.7% decline in March and 13.7% decrease in February.
Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli characterized the result “as being below expectations, given the tailwind from a low baccarat hold in April of 2024, despite a tough slot hold comparison given the timing of collections in April of 2024.”
Hold accounted for decline in April, though handle and drop were up across the board in both slots and table games.
Slot revenue of $387.5 million was down 5.3% from $409.3 million a year ago despite the handle of $4.86 billion up 2.3%. Slot hold was 8% versus 8.6% a year ago.
Baccarat revenue rose 42.2% to $108.3 million on the Strip, up from $76.7 million in April 2024. The drop was up nearly 17% and the hold of 14.9% was higher than 11.6% a year ago.
That gain was offset by non-baccarat table games, with revenue of $151.1 million, down 16.1% from $180.1 million a year ago. Hold was 12% versus 14.6% a year ago.
The Strip’s decline came as locals casinos brought in $278.9 million, a 3.2% increase over the $270.2 million in April 2024.
Downtown Las Vegas saw a 1% increase from $82.7 million to $83.6 million.
There was strength in North Las Vegas where gaming revenue rose 4.4% from $23.8 million to $24.8 million.
The Boulder Strip had a 8.1% increase from $83.1 million to $89.8 million.
Other southern Nevada casinos had mixed results.
In Mesquite, casinos recorded a 6.5% increase from $16.8 million to $17.9 million. Laughlin had a 7.6% decrease from $43.5 million to $40.1 million.
In northern Nevada, Reno recorded a 9.1% increase to $64.6 million, up from $59.2 million. That contrasted with Sparks’s 9.4% decline to $12.6 million, down from $13.9 million.
North Lake Tahoe suffered an 18.4% decline to $1.4 million, down from $1.7 million. South Lake Tahoe decreased 7.4% to $16.6 million, down from $17.9 million.
April Strip results were influenced by a neutral calendar, but Santarelli noted that April 2025 had an incremental Wednesday relative to a Monday in 2024, a modest tailwind for growth with a relatively easy baccarat hold comparison; the April 2024 hold was 11.6% versus 15.7% for calendar-year 2024. It was also a relatively tough slot hold comparison. April 2024 slot hold came in at 8.6% due to March collections versus slot hold over the course of 2024 of 8%.
In addition, there was a 260 basis point decline year over year in non-baccarat table game hold in April against a relatively normal comparison, Santarelli said. He also noted that slot handle, baccarat drop, and non-baccarat table drop were all up year over year.
In the locals market, Santarelli said slot revenue of $236.7 million was up 5.7% year over year as hold expanded to 7.4%, offsetting a 4.3% decline in slot handle.
“We note that the slot hold of 7.4% was the highest hold in locals since January 2024, a month that tends to benefit from year-end slot collections,” Santarelli said. “Table revenue of $42.2 million was down 8.7% year over year, as hold of 14.1% was down about 40 basis points year over year and table drop was down 6%.”
